A Cargo boat navigates the sea on April 28, 2026 on Qeshm Island, Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Asghar Besharati | Getty Images
Hello, this is Anniek Bao writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
The weekend brought plenty of headlines out of the Middle East — a Trump gesture on Hormuz, a fresh OPEC+ output increase, and the faintest signals of peace talks.
Markets, for the most part, greeted them with a yawn. After weeks of whipsawing on every development out of Tehran and Washington, investors appear to have accepted the stalemate.
Against that backdrop, this week’s earnings slate, packed with European heavyweights, will likely be the catalyst that moves the market as Gulf worries appear to have been priced in.
What you need to know today
U.S. President Donald Trump announced “Project Freedom” on Sunday, an operation framed around America helping to free stranded cargo vessels belonging to nations not party to the Middle East conflict.
Oil markets were not much impressed by “Project Freedom,” with Brent crude for July delivery slipping 0.60% to $107.49 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for June fell 0.86% to $101.07 per barrel in choppy trading.
As geopolitical developments indicate a stalemate, company earnings have taken center stage. Strong first-quarter earnings and residual optimism on a diplomatic off-ramp have driven stocks to new records in recent days.
South Korea’s Kospi extended that run to a fresh all-time high on Monday, buoyed by the country’s resilient technology and export sectors. Other Asia-Pacific indexes were mostly higher.
Germany’s DAX slipped at the open, after logging its best month since January of last year. Pre-market indicators point to a mixed open for trade across Europe and the U.S.
On the corporate front, Spirit Airlines ceased operations after failing to land a last-minute rescue over the weekend, marking the end of a slow-motion collapse years in the making, and effectively closing a chapter on ultra-cheap air travel in America.
In another unexpected turn of events, meme stock GameStop made a bid to fully acquire e-commerce platform eBay.
A slew of earnings reports are on tap this week, especially with company guidance on energy costs, consumer demand signals, and the second-half outlook carrying extra weight.
Shell and Maersk will be closely watched as direct proxies for the energy and shipping disruption. Novo Nordisk’s update comes as the weight-loss drug market faces fresh pricing scrutiny. Ferrari and BMW would offer a glimpse into whether luxury and premium auto demand has held up under cost pressures.
Among financial firms, Unicredit and HSBC will be the ones to watch, while Airbnb earnings stateside and commentary on travel demand will matter for European tourism-adjacent names.
And finally…
Trump scraps Scotch whisky tariffs ‘in honor’ of King Charles
Trump repealed tariffs on a key U.K. export last week, after a state visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla appeared to help mend transatlantic relations dampened by a series of political standoffs.
“In Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon,” the president said in a Thursday Truth Social post.
Trump later told reporters that he “took all the restrictions off, so Scotland and Kentucky can start dealing again.” “And I did it in honor of the King and Queen who just left,” he said.
— Chloe Taylor
